Tongue and mouth cleaner



May 10, 1932. FUNKY TONGUE AND MOUTH CLEANER Filed Sept. 3, 1929 Patented May 10, .1932

srrss rlnv'r. L. FUNK, or o'nsronoo, rnLm'oIs TONGUE AND MoU'rrr CLEANER Application filed September 3, 1929. Serial ITO/390,193.

This invention relates to a device whereby the tongue and the interior of the mouth may be cleaned.

Among the objects of the invention is to obtain a device which has ayielding surface at the operative end thereof and on which medicaments may be applied to thoroughly clean, as by rubbing the surface of the tongue and other parts of the mouth therewith. An additional object is to obtain a device where of the operative end has a yielding surface which is not liable to injure the membrane to which it is applied. An additional object is to obtain a device of thekind named which is economical in construction, is durable, and not liable to get out of order, and a device whereof the application for cleaning purposes is readily understood and easily applied.

In a construction embodying this invention I prefer to use material known in the arts as sponge rubber; but I do not limit myself to this material, as thick textile material, as felt or the like, may be substituted for said 25 sponge rubber with satisfactory results.

To those skilled in the art it is known that sponge rubber is made in sheets of varying thicknesses, and that the outer surfaces of said sheets does not present a spongy construction, like the interior of said sheets, and

that said outer surfaces are well adapted to.

receive cement for the purpose of joining said sheets of rubber to additional and similar sheets, or to other objects, by adhesion.

When said sheets of rubber are used for the operative end of the device it becomes necessary to expose the spongy portion thereof, for use in cleaning operations, or in the application of medicament thereby to the 49 tongue or portions of the interior of the mouth.

To obtain the result sought by me I preferably construct the device illustrated inFigs.

4 1, 2, 3 and 5: and employ a sheet of rubber end of the device, when said sheet is divided into two parts along or on the central plane of the sheet: said sheet, when so divided being well adapted on one face of the parts A obtained, to have cement applied thereto, as

of suitable thickness to obtain the operative by a brush, to effect the joining thereof by said cement. When said sheet of rubber is so divided and a portion thereof, or suitable shape and. size, is taken, and the parts ob tained are cemented together inthe manner hereinafter described, I secure a device on one side :of the. operative end whereofa liquid or semi-liquid medicament may be. applied without the same extending through-to the other side of saidend. i 7

In the drawings referred toFig. 1 is a top plan view of. a construction embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a side or edge elevation of the device'which is illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isja top plan view of a member forming theoperative end of the device,'removed from the remainder thereof, and in position before its attachment to said remainder. Fig. 4 is a modification of a. member duplicates of whichmaybe substituted for the member whichis illustrated in Fig. 3. v

A reference character applied to designate a given part indicates said part throughout the several figures of the drawings wherever the same appears.

1 represents the handle of the device. 2 represents the operative end of the device. 3, 4, Figs. 2 and 3, respectively, represent disk members which, when members are turned to be back to back and joined, as by cement 5, (see Fig. 2) with one end of handle 1 between said members, form what I term the operative end of the device. When the disk 6 (illustrated in Fig. 4) is substituted for the disk member 3, 4, a plurality of said disks 6 are required, which are first covered on the back thereof with cement and then placed back to back over one end of handle 1.

The disk member 3, 4, which is illustrated in Fig. 3 is preferred to a plurality of disks 6, for the reason that the portion 7 of disk member 3, 4, (see Figs. 1 and 2), of the periphery ofthe operative end of the device cannot be separated when the device is used with medicaments which tend to soften the cement; while, when a plurality of disks 6 are used there is a liability that the cement joining said disks may give or be torn apart, and'said disks 6, at said portion of the peripheries thereof may separate.

To increase the elasticity of the operative end of the device when constructed as is illus-' trated in Figs. 1 and 2, either with disk member 3, 4, or with a plurality of disks 6, and also to increase the area of the meeting faces of the disks which are joined by cement, the handle 1, at the end thereof to which said disk member (or disks) are applied, is pro vided with aperture 8, (or with a plurality of apertures) but satisfactory results have been obtained by me with said apertures omitted. v

, In constructing the device as is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, in using disk member 3, 4, (or a plurality of disks 6) cement in a plastic condition is applied to the surfaces of said members which are to come in contact when they are mounted onthe handle 1; said'members are then placed on one end of said handle, and sufficient pressure is applied thereto, for a suitable length of time to ensure the oining' of said members by said Cement when it becomes set.

lc'l'aimz" v A handle provided with an aperture at one end thereof, in combination with disk 1 members, said-disk members obtained by dividing a rubber disk having a sponge body and smooth faces, with a portion of the peripheral edge integral with the members obtained by said division, and a layer of adhesive cement applied to the smooth faces of said members, the apertured end of said handle being embedded in, and said smooth faces being joined by said adhesive cement, tocpermit saturation of said disk members with different liquids.

LEVI L. FUNK. 

